Tuesday, February 24, 2009

It all started with a sock


This is the sock that started it all. My childhood friend had her third child. I found out when I received her Christmas card. There was an extra mini human in the montage. Was it a visiting child from the neighborhood? Where did it come from? She had not only neglected to mention to me that she had another child, but that she was even pregnant in the first place. This is how we communicate sometimes. I am here. She is in NYC with a big executive job, a husband and (now) three kids. We will check in with each other every now and then. When I am in NY we try and get together to catch up. This generally consists of a very long tete a tete chock filled with conversation. It is as if we have not aged one single bit and we revert to being back in grade school once again. We have a certain level of comfort with each other that I cherish. There are no punches pulled. We can be absolutely honest with each other. Mostly because we know the truth about each other. Warts and all and it does not make a difference to either one of us. (Come on, we went through puberty together). So, when a life changing event such as this occurs and I receive a Christmas card with an "uh-oh" excuse written inside, it does not phase me. I understand.
I mention this because I was thinking of making a small gift for the new baby boy. I purchased a really cute hat and I am in the process of upcycling something else that I will show when I finish. Anyway, it hit me that I can no longer send just the gift for the baby. I need to send a gift for every kid. The oldest boy has reached the age where I do not need to make him things that are "cute". I am going to send him one of my stupid sock creatures.
I was stuck on what to send the middle child. A girl named Ella. I was going to send her a Pupule doll, but I decided to save that for a later package that is just for her. So, back to that sock. I was looking at it trying to decide if I could make something for her. For the first time, I envisioned a design and created a pattern in my mind...and it actually worked. This is what I created.

Meet the squirrel. (I think I may adjust his teeth since they are so ginormous)

I am going to send a note with him explaining that he has arrived at her doorstep because she lives only a few blocks from Central Park and he would thoroughly enjoy exploring the park for acorns.
OK, but I could not stop there. The squirrel just looked so lonely. I decided he needed a friend.

Meet the acorn.

I figured that the squirrel and the acorn would make a great pair together when they arrived. But, what if she wanted to take them both with her to Central Park? She needed something to carry them in.

Voila. The entire package for Ella alone.

2 comments:

ai said...

That's a very nice package. Very thoughtful of you.

ghersionmyjersey said...

That's so adorable!
It's the kind of little creature she just might keep until she's old and love it just as much.